


Dust and Motes

by shandromand



Category: RWBY, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9661274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shandromand/pseuds/shandromand
Summary: When Harry Dresden wakes up one early morning, he meets a strange girl who turns out to be literally out of this world.  Little do they know that their encounter will bring Earth and Remnant closer to the brink of destruction.  It will be up to them to save both worlds.  Takes place after Skin Game and Canon RWBY events play out up to v3e10, so watch out for spoilers!





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Foreward– A crossover of RWBY (all characters and places are owned by Rooster Teeth), and crossing into the Dresden-verse (all characters and places owned by Jim Butcher). I own nothing!**

# Dust and Motes

## Chapter One: Awakening

"WARDEN, ARISE. THERE IS AN INTRUDER UPON THE ISLE."

I groaned and mumbled "Stars and stones, can't a wizard get some sleep around here?" Don't get me wrong. I'm used to an early rise but that didn't mean I couldn't complain about it. Being a warden of a prison full of the world's most terrifying monsters doesn't exactly let you hit the snooze button. I blearily looked out the cottage window, and saw that it was too early, even for me. Grumble grumble grumble.

"Flickum bicus," I said, waving my hand. Candles popped to life across the cabin, and I swung my legs over the edge of the bed before fumbling for my running shoes. The cabin had been renovated in bits and pieces over the course of the spring and summer. The cot had been replaced with a real bed. Bookshelves had slowly filled up with a collection of novels, and there was a proper table and chairs - not that I had much company to entertain. It just seemed so sad to only have one chair. 

My sleep-fuzzed brain kicked into high gear when I got the image Alfred warned me about. It wasn't a very good visual though - just a golden, sort of person-shaped blob. Whatever it was, it was wandering around in the tunnels. I scrambled to my feet, fully awake. How long had it been here? Not long, according to Alfred. It paused at a nearby cell and passed a blurry arm in front of it, then moved on. What the hell was it doing? Was it looking for something? 

I snatched up my duster and threw it on, grabbed my staff and the new blasting rod I'd painstakingly carved over several weeks. Once secure in my wizardly masculinity, I made my way down the hill and into the well. I made it halfway down before I started preparing spells. Facing an unknown and uninvited entity meant it probably came to fight, and I had to be ready. Whatever it was wandering the tunnels, it now seemed content to walk around. Maybe it was looking for someone, or some _thing_ specific. It also started to look less like a blob and a bit more human-shaped. 

After the infinite trek down into the bowels of the island, silence quickly became my new best friend. Then, I heard it before I got near enough to see it. Funny thing though, it sounded more like a her.

"Hellooo," a girl called.

Well hello to you too, Miss Sneak-onto-my-island.

_'Alfred, does she seem hostile?'_ I sent. Having a telepathic connection did have its uses, after all.

"WARDEN, IT APPEARS TO BE LOST. IT IS ARMED AND RESONATES WITH POWER."

Great, she was armed and presumably dangerous. _'How armed is she? What sort of power are we talking about?'_

"IT BEARS GAUNTLETS ABLE TO SLING THE ELEMENTS. THE POWER EMANATES FROM ITS SOUL AS A SHIELD."

Oh. Well it- she has a soul? Maybe this won't be so bad after all. Yeah, right. Like that ever happens. Fae had souls, albeit strange to the point of being unrecognizable, and I wasn't sure if Alfred could tell the difference. I gathered my will and held up my palm. "Ignus," I intoned. A tiny sun appeared above my outstretched hand. There was some light from the crystal prison cells, but it was muted, and more greenish in color. These tunnels were eerie enough with just the prisoners. Screw fighting something in that - I wanted white sunshine.

"Is somebody there?" she asked. Her voice echoed from just around the bend. 

I just could not help myself. In my most appropriate wizardly bellicose voice, I called out, "Fee Fie Foe Fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!"

"Huh? What's an Eenglish-man?" Bah. Just my luck, an intruder with _no_ appreciation for the classics. 

I stepped around the corner into view and answered, "Seriously? I give you my best g-" or rather I tried to answer. The snark died on my tongue when I got my first look at her.

She was average height for a girl, and dressed in a canvas skirt-jacket thing that left very little to the imagination, with shorts that pushed the boundary of that definition. She wore knee-high boots that looked like Nancy Sinatra's favorite kind, and sported a pair of huge bracelets that Wonder Woman would have called overkill. But that wasn't what stopped me cold in my tracks. A river of sunlight cascaded from her head down to the small of her back, and was almost hard to look at in the dim light of the cave.

"Hello," she greeted me, bobbing her head. Those eyes. They glowed an almost intoxicating violet hue, and they were beautiful. And they were huge, man. Like bigger than silver dollar huge. No way was she human - maybe Summer Fae? I'd never seen any like this, but there were thousands of different kinds of fae. "You know, mister, you might swallow a bug or something if you keep doing that. I'm Yang." 

I clicked my teeth shut. Sue me, she was weird, but not unpleasant to the eye. "Hi," I answered. "I'm Harry. Harry Dresden."

"Well, nice to meet you, Harry Harry Dresden." She walked up to me and stuck out her hand. This was going awfully well. I took her hand and shook it. Alfred was right; as soon as I made contact, I could feel the energy. It felt like trying to hold an impending firestorm, which immediately put me on edge. She seemed friendly enough, but nobody sneaks past Alfred by being nice - not down here.

"Who are you, and how did you get down here?" I did my best to keep my voice flat. She let go of my hand and frowned. 

"I already told you, I'm Yang." She paused. "Yang Xiao Long is my whole name, and beats me how I got here. One minute I was fighting Mercury and Emerald." Huh? "I had them right where I wanted them and then there was a big flash of light." Oh, those were people names, got it. What? Give me a break, I just got up. "After that I found myself in this really long tunnel. I tried to go back, but it was blocked off." She crossed her arms, as if daring me to call her a liar. Which I really wanted to.

"You mean to tell me that you just showed up out of the blue on an island in the middle of a big damned lake?" I was having a really hard time accepting it, even if she threw off a sincere vibe. "Nobody gets past Alfred." I thumped my staff into the stone at my feet once and she took a step back. 

"That's what happened, Harry. What's the big deal, and who the hell is Alfred?" She was getting agitated. As places to have a fight went, this wasn't the greatest for it. If she really wanted to, though, I'd oblige her. I gave it one last shot before things got ugly. I summoned Alfred, and the intellectus appeared in his giant robed form just behind my right shoulder. Yang hopped back and raised her fists. The bracelets made a ratchety clanking noise and expanded to cover her arms, which shocked me into a defensive position. "What the hell is that?!" 

"That. Is. Alfred. Demonreach. He is the guardian of this island and prison, and I am the warden. You are trespassing Yang Xiao Long and I want to know why." I may have pulled a bit of Demonreach's power into me, because the entire cavern shuddered under the weight of my voice. It might have been overkill, but when it came to this place, I wasn't taking any chances. Whether I was overdoing it or not, it had the intended effect, because her expression changed to shock, and her fists went limp. She spread her hands in a peacemaking gesture.

"Oh! Well, my bad - I didn't mean to. Just show me the way and I'll get out of your hair." She lowered her arms and gave her wrists a little twist. The gauntlets collapsed with that same odd sound. "Speaking of which, where is here, anyway? Am I still in Vale?" I shook my head. The girl had switched gears so fast that I wasn’t sure whether it was a trick or not. It didn’t _feel_ like she was lying, but I’d been hoodwinked by the damsel in distress act before. I decided that it was probably worth testing.

"I'm not familiar with that name, Yang. If you really don't know how you got here, then I need to have a conversation with Alfred." I turned to face the intellectus. Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to turn my back on Yang, but Alfred _was_ standing right there. Not only that, but I would know the instant she made a move anyway. I tightened my grip on the new blasting rod, just in case. "How about it, big guy? How'd she get past you?" It looked down at me with those glowing green eyes for a moment, and then it did something I'd never heard it do before. It spoke. Out loud.

"SHE WAS PERMITTED." The words were hollow, as if vibrating from the walls of the tunnel. It was _very_ loud. 

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean? Permitted? Why'd you let her in here?" 

"SHE WAS PERMITTED. A BARGAIN WAS STRUCK." 

"A bargain was struck? You and your damned deals - which we're going to have a talk about later, by the way. What kind of bargain?" 

"A BARGAIN WAS STRUCK," he answered. _Very_ helpful.

"Wow, it's kind of like talking to a brick wall, isn't it?" Yang hadn't moved. I looked over my shoulder at her, rolling my eyes. 

"Honey, you have _no_ idea." Her eyes narrowed at the pet name. I turned my attention back to Alfred, but motioned for her to come and stand where I could see her. She took three steps forward and stopped a couple of paces to my left. If she was going to make a move, this would be the time. "Who'd you bargain with, Alfred? Was it Mab?" 

"THE GUARDIAN'S LIEGE WAS NOT PARTY. MORE CANNOT BE SAID." 

"Oh really, more cannot be said? And why not?" This was starting to royally piss me off. 

"A BARGAIN WAS STRUCK." I gritted my teeth in frustration. If Alfred was making deals behind my back and keeping me out of the loop, that was a serious problem. Let’s try something different.

"Is the island in danger?" 

"THERE IS ALWAYS DANGER. YOU ARE THE GUARDIAN." Great, that wasn’t a huge insult or anything. Really, it wasn’t how it sounded. The thing with Demonreach was that it was very literal, and it was usually just a matter of asking the right questions. I tilted my head in Yang's direction.

"Is she a threat?" He looked at her and considered the question briefly. 

"THE SUN DRAGON IS NO THREAT." 

"Well gee, thanks for that Mister Alfred. I don't know whether to be relieved or offended." The tone of her voice was laden with sarcasm. He said nothing, and I snorted. 

"Sun dragon, huh? Are you a big lizard in disguise?" She shrugged a shoulder and smiled. I doubted she was, but it was a valid question. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d met such a powerful creature, and that hadn’t gone so well. Scratch that – it _had_ gone well. I was still breathing. It could have gone much, _much_ worse. 

"That's what my dad calls me. I'm not really a dragon though." I gave her a hard look. "I'm really sorry for intruding, Harry. I'll leave on the next bullhead - or there's a ship or something, right?" What the hell was a bullhead? I shook my head. I was starting to feel like maybe she was on the level. She’d had plenty of opportunity to try and make Dresden paste out of me, and so far she hadn’t done anything but get a little uppity and go on the defensive. 

"It's not that simple, Sparky. Nobody but me really comes out here, and my ride isn't due back for a few days." 

"Oh. I suppose I could swim?" I actually laughed at that, which made her glare at me. 

"You would be all day and half a night at that." Her eyes widened. "It's a big lake, Yang." I craned my neck around at Alfred. "Alright, mister, you don't wanna talk, then fine. Go do whatever it is you do. Don't think we're not going to hash it out when this is all over though." He remained enigmatically silent and faded from view. 

"Spooookyyyy." 

"Hmph. He does that. What's this place you were talking about? Vale, was it?"

"The Kingdom of Vale,” she confirmed. “You're sure you've never heard of it?" 

"No, I have not. Is it part of the Nevernever?" 

"I don't know what that is." She looked at the little ball of light and tried to poke it, and then jerked her hand back, shaking her fingers to cool them off. "I tried my scroll, but the CCT is too far away I guess." Wow, definitely not from around here. I wasn't really up to date on technology, but even I knew enough to realize that she was talking nonsense. CCT was a British thing, wasn’t it? She sure as Hell didn’t sound like a Brit. 

"Toto, I don't even think this is Dorothy."

"Huh? Who's Toto?"

"Heh. Nevermind that. Clearly you are a very long way from home." I paused for a moment. She seemed like a nice enough kid, and I got no heebie-jeebies off her. Mentally shrugging, I decided to lay it out for her. I mean, she could still bushwhack me, but gotta be a decent host when unexpected guests behave themselves, right?

"You're on - under Demonreach Island, on Lake Michigan." She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. "Nothing, huh?" She shook her head. "It's in the United States, on the planet Earth." At that her eyes got huge. Huger. If that was even possible.

"Man! That must have been some explosion. Outta this world even." Heh. Smartass. I liked her.

"And right into this one, apparently." Two could play that game, but it was time to get serious. "This is not a good place to be having this conversation, Yang."

"What do you mean? Are there Grimm nearby?" What the heck were grim?

"Like I said before, this place is a prison. If by grim you mean monsters, then yes." She looked around in confusion. "They're sealed away, but that doesn't stop them from talking at you."

"They can talk?" the look of skepticism she gave me clued me in. Go me, with the reading of facial expressions.

"Something tells me that my prisoners aren't your Grims. Yeah, they can talk." I waved a hand at the crystals on the walls. "Not that they ever say anything worth hearing. Come on, follow me." She nodded and skipped up beside me as I turned to leave.

"Sooo... What'd they do?"

"Bad things, I'm sure. I've yet to take a full inventory, but rest assured they all belong here." Yang asked a pretty smart question at that response. 

"Wait, so… How do you know they’re all bad?" 

"Alfred knows everything about them. He shows me memories of the prisoners when I have time to do it." I’d grown curious over the spring and had started to look into them. It seemed to me that if the Adversary wanted to spring every last one, I ought to learn what it was we had locked away down here. It was a Very Bad Idea talking directly to them, so I’d asked Alfred for an alternative. "It isn’t fun, but if I find one that shouldn’t be here, I’ll let them go. I haven’t been in charge for very long, but I have yet to find a single one." 

"Oh," she said, simply. I didn't like where this conversation was headed, so I changed the subject. Subtle, right?

"So tell me about this place you come from." I doubted I'd recognize anything - half of what she said didn't make sense, but it was better than talking about my shop.

"Oh. Well I grew up on the island of Patch, just outside the Kingdom of Vale with my dad and my little sister, Ruby." She deflated a little at the mention of her sibling.

"Something wrong, Sparky?"

"Yeah. Mercury and Emerald hurt her pretty bad before I got my hands on them." She started to glow a little brighter. Maybe it was my imagination, but she seemed to emanate heat. She might be the weirdest girl I’d ever met, but she sure wore her heart right on her sleeve. "I hope she's okay, but I didn't want to lose their trail, so I don't know how she's doing."

"Was it bad?" I asked. I didn't want to upset her, because something told me an angry Yang -heh, Yangry?- was more than a handful. At the same time, letting things eat away at people wasn't healthy either.

"Yeah. She lost an eye, and was pretty banged up. We managed to get her to the infirmary on the Striker. She's in good hands, but I need to get back to her." Jesus. What kind of sick people gouge out a little girl's eye? I knew a few creatures and people who’d do something just as awful as that, but hearing about more like them never failed to upset me. She stopped and looked up at me. I held up and returned the gaze.

"I have to get back home, Harry Harry Dresden. Will you help me?" Hells bells, I didn't have the faintest clue where to begin. I felt bad for her, but what was I going to do? I had responsibilities enough as it was. I wanted to help her out, but I’d be lying if I said some part of me wanted nothing more than to plunk her on the shore and wish her luck. 

"Stars and stones, kid, I don't know if I _can._ " This had trouble written all over it, with a capital T. Her face fell just a little, and she looked down at the ground. Oh hell. Do NOT start crying, pleeease. "I don't know the place you're from. You don't look like anyone I've ever met or heard of. And don't take this personally, Yang, but we just met one another. I don't know _you_. Never mind that Alfred made some kind of deal with parties unknown to let you in here." She looked back up at me, plainly hurt. I sighed. She was gonna make me do it.

"Not only that, but being warden of the world's scariest prison isn't my only responsibility. I've made plenty of enemies-" She cut me off with a knife hand. 

"I'm not scared of that. If you help me get home, your enemies are my enemies." Her eyes narrowed and she punched her fists together, flaring like a miniature sun. Gulp. I believed her. A wicked part of me thought of how much fun it would be to turn her loose. I bet she'd even give a Denarian a run for their money. I gave myself a mental shake and tried to put myself in her shoes for a minute. It wasn’t a comforting moment, which finally made up my mind. Fine: Let it not be said that Harry Dresden wouldn’t help someone who asked nicely, damsel or not.

"Alright, Sparky," I settled a hand on her shoulder. "I might have a couple of ideas, but we have to deal with the whole trust thing first." She squinted her eyes and frowned.

"What'd you have in mind? I'm game as long as it isn't gross." Oh wow. What in the hell kind of world did this kid come from?

"Nothing like that!" I all but shouted, jerking my hand away like it had been burned. The Mantle reared its ugly head and started suggesting… things. I clamped down on that impulse so hard that the muscles in my neck twinged. "Hell's bells, Sparky, I'm a guy, but not that kind of guy." She rolled her eyes as if to say she didn’t buy that for one second, but at least she didn’t _actually_ say anything. 

"Come on, let's get back to my cabin first. What I actually have in mind _definitely_ isn't something we want to do down here." 

The blonde troublemaker let out a wicked chuckle. "Are you sure you're not that kind of guy?" she drawled.

I choked on a laugh of my own. "Brat." I turned on my heel and did my best huffy walk. 

"Lech," she said huskily, which was only slightly spoiled by her jogging to catch up. 

"Murphy is gonna give me _so_ much crap about this." Actually, she might even clobber me. It'd been almost two weeks since we'd last seen one another. I wasn’t really sure how I'd even broach that subject. 'Oh hey, Murph, so good to see you. By the way, had this teenage girl drop in on me unexpecte-' CLOBBER. Yup, that was gonna be fun. 

"Who's Murphy? Your boss? Is he hotter than you?" The little fireball was having entirely too much fun at my expense. 

" _She_ is my girlfriend. So don't you go getting fresh, or I'll sic her on you." The girl laughed and smacked a fist into her open palm.

"Bring it on! I love a good cat-fight!" She wore an eager little grin on her face, but I think she was kidding. Maybe. We eventually cleared the prison and I led her back to my ramshackle cabin, ducking tree branches and avoiding brambles with ease. To give her credit, she navigated just as well as I did, which was saying something. The intellectus gave me an almost subconscious awareness of where to step and obstacles to avoid. She must have had woodscraft training.

"Hmmm," she mused upon seeing my domicile. "Nice! A little rustic, but it looks cozy."

"It's my home away from home," I said. Technically, it was my only home. I still hadn't found a replacement for my basement apartment. Molly had said repeatedly that I was welcome to her Svartalf compound, but it felt a little too weird to live there. Murphy was only too happy to let me stay with her, but I still needed a work space and somewhere to reopen my P.I. office – not that the cases were rolling in. Sharing a home with Karrin was wonderful, but we both knew that we needed separate corners for now. We had become an official item by the time her physical therapy had started, and neither of us wanted to rush things. It was a small part of the reason I was out on Demonreach. It gave us both the necessary space we needed, and it allowed me an unfettered workspace to craft my new tools and do research. It also afforded me a safe place to work with the Winter Mantle, to see what it was capable of.

I opened the door and waited for her to walk in, then followed behind her. I leaned my staff up against the door jamb and took off my duster to hang it on a hook. When I turned around, Yang was peering at my bookshelf. She had one hand on her hip and the other running an index finger across the spines. "Can you actually read any of that?" Sue me, I was curious.

"Sort of. The letters are funny." She pulled out a tattered copy of The Two Towers and flipped through a few pages. "What's a hobbit?" She looked over her shoulder at me.

"The little folk of the Shire. Fictional little folk, at that." I could tell she was dithering, and I guess I couldn’t blame her, not really. "Much as I would like to jabber about awesome literature, we've got something to sort out. Put that away for now and come on over here, eh?" I waved her over by the table and chairs my brother, Thomas, had brought out a while back. She slipped the book back into its spot and stepped over to stand in front of me.

"Okay, so now what?" She looked up at me, mischief in her eyes. Merlin's bones! I felt bad for the guy she set her sights on. He didn't stand a chance! 

"There’s a thing we can do called a Soulgaze. Think of it as a glimpse at one another’s true selves." I worried about what she might see, but there was no use putting it off. Hopefully it wouldn’t send her running for the hills. Or into a murderous rage.

"Okay, so how does it work?" If anything, her friskiness had deepened. From the tone of her voice, I could have suggested… other things and she’d have been quite alright with that. One muscle-cramping shut-the-hell-up-Winter-Knight moment later, I disabused the both of them of that particular notion. 

"We look each other directly in the eyes. It can be a little startling, though – it will seem like you’re somewhere else. In reality, you won’t have moved an inch." I didn’t like the idea, but if we were going to trust one another, this was the best way. 

"That’s it?" she asked, doubt in her tone. I nodded. "Then let’s do it." Alright then. I shifted my gaze to look her directly in the eyes.

I felt the world fall away from me, and I landed in a strange forest of crimson leaves. They reminded me of cherry blossoms actually; tall spindly trees that were filled with blood-red foliage. The vibrant leaves drifted lazily through the air and coated the ground. It looked like the forest had been flooded with an ocean of blood, and the effect sent shivers down my spine. 

I barely had time to take in the sight, though, before several dark shapes darted through the underbrush on all fours. I had seen it enough times to recognize what the creatures were. Wolves.

Two giant wolves, in fact: One with fur tinted green and the other frosted with silver, darted through the forest. I heard, rather than saw, their target a moment later. A bellowing roar shook the forest down to its roots, filled with an inhuman rage and fury. My perspective shifted again, like I was one of those wolves darting across the floor, and then I saw the source of what had shaken the forest.

What I saw was a colossal bear. No, not like a grizzly bear: Imagine instead, one of those old Ice Age era bears, the ones that were like, twelve feet tall. Now take that bear and throw some blazing napalm on it and give it razor sharp claws that gleamed like iron. Oh, and throw in some furious red eyes in for good measure.

The wolves darted in around the bear, the green one on the right and the silver on the left. They nipped at its hindquarters, aiming to hamstring the beast. The bear just let out an annoyed growl and swiped at the silver one. Green darted in and bit at the bear's stomach, but only got a mouthful of fire for its trouble. The bear backhanded the oversized dog and sent it hurtling through the forest. 

The silver wolf broke off and darted out of the bear's reach. The bear roared again and rose onto its hind legs. If it was intimidating on four legs, on two the bear was more of a flaming, living building made of fur and death than an animal. But standing up was for more than intimidation. It revealed what the bear was protecting, why it hadn’t moved from its spot.

Three small cubs were huddled under its legs, one pitch black, the other white as snow, and the third red like roses. They snarled and hissed at the wolves too, but their momma bear made far more of an impact.

The two wolves returned in seconds, the green one lunging through the air at the bear. It caught the beast with one massive paw around its neck, and roared into the wolf’s face. At the same time, Silver darted in at the cubs. The bear realized its mistake and dropped the wolf so it could swat at its partner. 

The ground just… vanished where the bear hit. Crimson blossoms spiraled through the air like the world’s bloodiest twister. The wolf had dodged the attack easily and lunged in at the bear. 

I really didn’t want to watch what came next – I’d seen this sort of thing play out before. The two wolves, working together, forced the bear to extend itself beyond what even its impressive might could manage. They could barely hurt it, and if the bear had simply huddled down around the cubs, or was patient enough to wait for the wolves to get close enough to strike, the fight would've been over in an instant. 

Instead I watched as the bear swung, and missed over and over, only to be taken by the momentarily forgotten wolf lunging in and biting at its flanks and legs. After an eternity of this cat and mouse game, the bear was covered in blood and its flames were beginning to flicker to nothing. Its mighty chest heaved with exhaustion, and all too soon, it fell to the ground, too tired to move. 

The wolves howled with victory and lunged at their defeated foe, fangs dripping with anticipation. The bear looked up at them weakly, its fire dead and eyes fading to a dull lilac.

That was when the bigger bear showed up. It was dark black, with crimson eyes, and even larger than the first bear. A red aura surrounded it, hungry and cold, sucking the very life from the world around it. The newcomer shouldered withering trees aside as if they were twigs. 

This super-bear had come barreling in out of nowhere, slamming into both wolves with its mass. I heard a sickening snap, and when they landed, one of them did not get back up. The other one, its fur marred by bloody leaves, struggled to its feet and limped away with its tail between its legs.

Super-bear spared the smaller bear a glance. The poor thing let out an appealing whimper, a plea to the oversized bear to stay. It narrowed its eyes at the beaten and bloodied beast, and let out an indifferent snort before lumbering off and vanishing into the woods.

The mama bear let her massive head fall to the ground, and it made a small, lonely noise that died in its throat when the cubs gathered around and curled up next to her. Safe for the moment, the bear and her cubs lay together in contentment as she licked her wounds and nuzzled the baby bears… Though the cubs did not notice, those lilac eyes looked to where their savior had disappeared, even as the Soulgaze began to fade.

When the world came back into view, Yang stared back up at me. I didn't have to wonder what she saw. Her face flashed half a dozen different emotions all at once; pity, sadness, compassion, and something else I couldn’t quite read flickered across her features. She closed the short distance between us so fast I could have sworn she’d teleported. She slammed into me and wrapped her arms around my ribcage in a crushing embrace. Holy Seven Bloody Hells, this girl was _strong_. Like, maybe I couldn't take her in a standup fight, strong – the Winter Mantle be-damned. 

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay," she repeated into my chest. I gasped for air and patted her back, doing my best not to panic. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was trying to literally squish the sad parts of my life out of me. She eased up, but didn't let go. I inhaled a breath of relief, but returned the hug and reached to stroke her wild mane of hair. 

Without a second thought, she snatched my hand away and quickly added, “Don’t touch the hair.” 

I chuckled. I had no idea what she'd seen - I rarely knew what anyone saw. Judging by her reaction, though, I had a fair idea. "It's alright, kid. It ain't all bad, ya’ know. I've got some good things going for me, too." Life had been hard, especially these last few years. I wasn't lying to her, though. I had Maggie, Karrin, and quite a few friends, all of whom made the pain and struggle more than worth it. 

She sniffled and looked back up. "But it's so _unfair_! It's not even your fault."

"Heh,” I wheezed. “Tell that to the bad guys. Hell’s bells, talk with your fists often enough and sometimes they even listen." She grinned evilly and stepped back. Thankfully, my spine and ribs seemed to be not crunchy bits.

"That was crazy! Does that happen with everyone in your world? Magic is real?" she rapid-fired at me. Oh boy. I held up a hand before she launched an avalanche of questions.

"Of course magic is real, Sparky." I grinned. "As a general rule, the soulgaze doesn't happen every day. Unless the people you meet here are wizards like me, most folks just get a really good look at one another." She frowned for a moment.

"Oh. So there's not a lot of wiz- wizards, I take it?" The way she stumbled over the word was kind of cute, like she was still having trouble believing it.

"Not compared to the average person, no.” If twenty questions was going to continue for much longer, my brain was in dire need of caffeine. "You want some coffee?"

"You have coffee?" She managed to sound shocked and pleased all at once, face all lit up and everything.

"Yup! Best Joe this side of the Mizzipy, ma'am!" I shot back. "How do you take it?" 

"Black as night and hot as the sun!" she shouted. 

"Can do, Yang, can do." I went to fire up the stove.

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N When I started this story over a year ago, I hadn't done any serious writing in over a decade. Life got in the way, working, trying to get by in this crazy world - I let that take away my love of telling tall tales. Three years ago I joined the RWBY community, and I'm so glad that I found them. I began to participate in little writing projects on the subreddit. During a particularly fun MonCon, I wondered if anyone had ever thought to combine my two favorite fandoms. When I found _nothing_ on FFN (or anywhere else), well, that just would not do. Dust and Motes was born, and here we are, one year later! I wrote and edited it with almost no feedback, and the plot suffered for it a little. That didn't stop it from gathering a small following, and it even inspired others to make their own crossover attempts. About four or five months ago, I started reading Remnant - another RWBY/DF crossover featuring our favorite invincible girl (it's so good!). Rapidfyrez and I have gotten talking on the regular, and we've been helping each other (mostly by arguing and joking). This chapter is the first overhaul edit, and between him and another author, LydiaRogue, I think it's turned out much better. I plan to publish the edited chapters here, but will leave the original 20-something chapters up on FFN until the rewrite catches up (new chapters here will be slower, but if you can't wait...). Chapter two should be done before the month is over, though. Anyway, the notes at the end probably won't be quite this long. Please feel free to leave comments, criticism, or speculation, and thank you for reading! :)**


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